4 ms·

While this was just an anecdote, it caught me off guard: > if you question any candid person who is no longer young, he is very likely to tell you that, having

While this was just an anecdote, it caught me off guard: > if you question any candid person who is no longer young, he is very likely to tell you that, having tasted life in this world, he has no wish to begin again as a 'new boy' in another. The tone suggests that old people have "had enough" of this disappointing world, but I'll suggest a different view. Assuming this candid survey was conducted amongst R.Bertrand's philosophical and possibly atheistic cohorts, they would give that answer because a philosophical person makes it their duty to learn how to live well and internalize their goals. Contrast this to someone who never bothered to learn how to live well, or believes God will decide whether or not they lived well. This may create a desire for another chance or more time to figure it out and get it right. Coincidentally I once asked this exact question to someone who had experienced profound hardship (e.g., civil war, mutilation, death of child, total loss, abuse, political persecution, etc). That elderly person made it clear that they would very much want to be young again. It is regretful that Bertrand would make such a broad and questionable generalization in such a depressing context.

Kluny 10y ago
>> if you question any candid person who is no longer young, he is very likely to tell you that, having tasted life in this world, he has no wish to begin again as a 'new boy' in another. > The tone suggests that old people have "had enough" of this disappointing world, but I'll suggest a different view. I read it differently - not that the older person has had enough, but rather that they count their experience so valuable that they don't want to start again without it. At the age of 27, I definitely don't want to relive the trauma I went through in my teens and early twenties as I learned to navigate relationships and look after my wellbeing. I'd love to have a young body forever, but that experience is worth a lot.
- vacri 10y ago
  I have a similar position re: youth traumas, plus another angle. I love being a sysadmin, but at 43 it took a long time to get here - I started out doing neuroscience, worked as a neuroscientist for a while, went to work support at a related equipment supplier, moved into testing, and eventually ended up as sysadmin a few jobs down the road. If I had started out my career in the tech world, I would have had a more enjoyable career path and a much bigger bank balance, but I also wouldn't have my well-rounded experiences. I like that I started out in biology, and I see a pragmatism about life in biologists that I don't see anywhere else (and particularly not in tech). In short, I don't know who I'd be if I started over afresh, and I genuinely don't know whether I'd be better or worse off (or even value the same things)
tcgv 10y ago
I found that sentence confusing, and got the impression that he meant after knowing life in this world (earth, human life) the no longer young candid person has no wish to begin again as a new boy in another world (heaven?, life after death)

Kluny 10y ago

>> if you question any candid person who is no longer young, he is very likely to tell you that, having tasted life in this world, he has no wish to begin again as a 'new boy' in another. > The tone suggests that old people have "had enough" of this disappointing world, but I'll suggest a different view. I read it differently - not that the older person has had enough, but rather that they count their experience so valuable that they don't want to start again without it. At the age of 27, I definitely don't want to relive the trauma I went through in my teens and early twenties as I learned to navigate relationships and look after my wellbeing. I'd love to have a young body forever, but that experience is worth a lot.

vacri 10y ago
I have a similar position re: youth traumas, plus another angle. I love being a sysadmin, but at 43 it took a long time to get here - I started out doing neuroscience, worked as a neuroscientist for a while, went to work support at a related equipment supplier, moved into testing, and eventually ended up as sysadmin a few jobs down the road. If I had started out my career in the tech world, I would have had a more enjoyable career path and a much bigger bank balance, but I also wouldn't have my well-rounded experiences. I like that I started out in biology, and I see a pragmatism about life in biologists that I don't see anywhere else (and particularly not in tech). In short, I don't know who I'd be if I started over afresh, and I genuinely don't know whether I'd be better or worse off (or even value the same things)

tcgv 10y ago

I found that sentence confusing, and got the impression that he meant after knowing life in this world (earth, human life) the no longer young candid person has no wish to begin again as a new boy in another world (heaven?, life after death)